On March 19, 2021, the Fagradalsfjall volcano in Iceland erupted for the first time in 781 years. Scientists gathered samples from the eruption and discovered that the lava came from between the Earth’s crust and mantle. By inspecting the composition of the lava, they were able to establish an understanding of the source of the magma.
On the first day of the eruption, researchers collected samples of the lava, and discovered it was full of crystals. Not long ago, the scientists were able to determine properties of magma found underneath Earth’s surface. They also collected a variety of substances from different parts of the Earth’s mantle in an effort to understand why volcanoes erupt.
Frances Deegan, a volcanologist at Uppsala University in Sweden, said, “We have a really detailed record of the different types of composition that we can find in the mantle now, and it must be very heterogeneous, very variable.”
It is extremely rare for lava to come from Earth’s mantle, due to how thick the crust is. Normally, volcanoes erupt when magma flows mix together, and their individual chemical patterns become untraceable as the magma erupts through the surface. However, in the case of Fagradalsfjall, the molten rock came from carbon dioxide that was released from a deeper region between the mantle and the crust. Olafur Flovenz, director of the Iceland GeoSurvey, says this is the first time researchers have seen an eruption where lava comes directly from the mantle.
Fagradalsfjall’s eruption was relatively mild, which made it easy for scientists to gather data. Deegan and her colleagues found that the chemicals in the lava were extremely diverse, but that the oxygen isotopes were almost indistinguishable. This contributed to a theory scientists proposed, since oxygen-18, the isotope scientists found small traces of, is not common within the mantle. Flovenz, who has been studying volcanoes in Iceland since 1973, says, “These are very exciting times. I had never had the hope that I would live to see this unrest and eruptions on this peninsula. This has been extremely interesting for the geosciences community.”
Sources: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658688653049x483566818130665200/In%20Iceland%2C%20a%20Volcanic%20Eruption%20Brings%20Researchers%20Closer%20to%20Earth%E2%80%99s%20Core%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/planet-earth/how-has-the-earth-evolved/the-earth-s-crust#:~:text=The%20Earth’s%20crust%20is%20its,20%20to%2080%20kilometers%20thick
On the first day of the eruption, researchers collected samples of the lava, and discovered it was full of crystals. Not long ago, the scientists were able to determine properties of magma found underneath Earth’s surface. They also collected a variety of substances from different parts of the Earth’s mantle in an effort to understand why volcanoes erupt.
Frances Deegan, a volcanologist at Uppsala University in Sweden, said, “We have a really detailed record of the different types of composition that we can find in the mantle now, and it must be very heterogeneous, very variable.”
It is extremely rare for lava to come from Earth’s mantle, due to how thick the crust is. Normally, volcanoes erupt when magma flows mix together, and their individual chemical patterns become untraceable as the magma erupts through the surface. However, in the case of Fagradalsfjall, the molten rock came from carbon dioxide that was released from a deeper region between the mantle and the crust. Olafur Flovenz, director of the Iceland GeoSurvey, says this is the first time researchers have seen an eruption where lava comes directly from the mantle.
Fagradalsfjall’s eruption was relatively mild, which made it easy for scientists to gather data. Deegan and her colleagues found that the chemicals in the lava were extremely diverse, but that the oxygen isotopes were almost indistinguishable. This contributed to a theory scientists proposed, since oxygen-18, the isotope scientists found small traces of, is not common within the mantle. Flovenz, who has been studying volcanoes in Iceland since 1973, says, “These are very exciting times. I had never had the hope that I would live to see this unrest and eruptions on this peninsula. This has been extremely interesting for the geosciences community.”
Sources: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658688653049x483566818130665200/In%20Iceland%2C%20a%20Volcanic%20Eruption%20Brings%20Researchers%20Closer%20to%20Earth%E2%80%99s%20Core%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/permanent/planet-earth/how-has-the-earth-evolved/the-earth-s-crust#:~:text=The%20Earth’s%20crust%20is%20its,20%20to%2080%20kilometers%20thick
